India v Australia: India’s miracle men fend off multiple obstacles to claim historic series win

India’s head coach Ravi Shastri has fought back tears describing how against great adversity his team climbed off the canvas to claim the toughest series in the history of the game.

With tears in his eyes, Ravi Shastri has declared India’s triumph in Brisbane the toughest performance in the history of Test cricket.

An emotional Indian coach has lauded the performance of his team, adamant the ordeal of going through quarantine, a multitude of injuries and bouncing back from being bowled out for 36 in the first Test, makes it an “unimaginable” win for the ages.

“It’s the toughest tour ever. We are playing it in COVID times and quarantine times and we had multiple injuries,” said Shastri.

“Nothing comes close to this. It surpasses all.

“I got emotional. I’m not someone who generally has tears in my eyes, but I had real tears in my eyes.

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“This is unreal what these guys have pulled off. It will go down as one of the greatest series every played.

“To show the stomach for a fight after being bowled out for 36 is unimaginable.”

India’s stand-in-captain Ajinkya Rahane said it was a performance to stop a nation of 1.36 billion people.

“Every Indian should enjoy this victory,” said Rahane.

Coach Shastri praised Rahane for his calm and composed leadership in the face of extreme adversity, but also praised Virat Kohli — who left Australia after the first Test for the birth of his child — for instilling the self-belief which manifested itself at the Gabba.

Rishabh Pant never had any thought in his mind but victory. Picture: Getty Images

India only had two survivors from the first Test to the last, going into the Brisbane Test with a bowling attack with only three matches experience — only to lose one of them to injury midway through the first innings.

We were left with no choices. We had no one left in the squad when the final Test striated,” said Shastri.

“We had to play the guys that were there. It was important to keep the self-belief going. Ajinkya did a great job being composed and calm. People think it has come overnight, it doesn’t come overnight.

“What they’ve learnt is not to give up. It’s not in our vocabulary. You’ve got to give credit to Virat. His character, his personality: that stamp is there for everyone to see in this team as well.

Head coach Ravi Shastri says every Indian should enjoy this victory.

“For Ajinkya to take over the way he did was unreal.”

Shastri played 80 Tests for India, including some tough tours of Australia where he learnt first-hand how difficult the challenge of playing down under is.

But as coach, he has overseen back-to-back series triumphs in Australia — with this effort at the Gabba perhaps never to be repeated.

Shastri praised the performance of young opener Shubman Gill, crediting his 90 for setting up the fairytale.

The team instructions were to play the match on its merits and if there is an opportunity late in the piece — go for victory.

However, Rishabh Pant, with his miraculous 89 not out, never had any thought in his mind but victory.

The Indian team does a lap of honour at the Gabba after their remarkable victory.

It resulted in the first international team in 32 years to defeat Australia at Fortress Gabba.

“I right from the very beginning we had a chat Jinx (captain, Ajinkya Rahane) and said, ‘let’s play normal cricket. Play your natural game. Set the game up more than anything and if you get an opportunity towards the end, with wickets in hand, then think about going for it.

“The innings Shubman played was an outstanding innings on a bouncy Gabba track.

“To take on the attack way he did, he got the momentum.

“Then there was Rishabh Pant. In his mind he was always chasing. He kept looking at the scoreboard. You knew he had some other ideas.”

Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane admits he also broke down in emotion.

“I was emotional too. I still don’t know what happened. I still don’t know how to describe this,” he said.

BATTERED, BROKEN, NEVER BEATEN: INDIA’S BRAVEST WARRIOR

His nickname is ‘The Wall’, but the better moniker would have been ‘The Punching Bag.’

‘The Crash Test Dummy’. ‘The piece of steak being tenderised’.

Use whatever comparison you like; but ultimately Cheteshwar Pujara produced one of the most courageous innings ever seen by a tourist to Australia.

By the end of it, Pujara had his helmet belted in three places, his ribs, his knuckles, his forearm all brutally examined … or broken.

Battered, but not beaten: Cheteshwar Pujara takes a moment after one of the many blows he took. Picture: Getty

And he now he will be forever remembered as ‘The Warrior.’

Pujara is an unpretentious, old fashioned fighter and his stoic 56 off 211 balls at the Gabba will live long in history and serve as an example to a young and underperformed Australian batting line-up, what a Test match player is.

Rishabh Pant stole the show in the end with his stunning unbeaten 89 not out, but without the foundation set by Pujara in the face of an unrelenting attack, the unbelievable three-wicket win at the Gabba would have been impossible.

It was one of cricket’s bravest innings, in the same mould as Michael Clarke standing up to eye-watering body blows from South African Morne Morkel to score a series-winning century at Cape Town in 2014.

Proteas captain Graeme Smith won plenty of Australian admirers at the SCG back in January 2009, when he stoically walked out to bat trying to save the Test for his team having earlier had his finger broken by a rampaging Mitchell Johnson.

Pujara is drilled in the shoulder by a Pat Cummins bouncer. Picture: AFP

During Bodyline, Englishman Eddie Paynter spent a night in hospital with tonsillitis only to climb out of his sick bed and win an Ashes Test match for his country.

The vicious assault of Pujara was led by Pat Cummins, who struck his first blow when the Indian star took his eyes off a short ball and ducked down, allowing the ball to cannon into his front bicep at the start of the 31st over.

At the time, ‘The Wall’ was living up to his nickname with just 6 runs off 61 deliveries.

Two overs later and Cummins smacked Pujara on the back of his helmet, marking the first of many moments when the Indian physio made a frantic dash out to the middle to treat his charger.

In the 37th over, Pujara copped a Cummins fast ball flush to the ribs, and didn’t even flinch.

Ricky Ponting can’t understand where Pujara’s enjoyment in batting comes from when he refuses to play his shots – but the former Australian captain had nothing but respect for the guts on display.

“He’s a tough boy,” said Ponting on Channel 7.

Pujara receives attention to a busted finger late on day five. Picture: Getty

Then it was Hazlewood’s turn to dish out the punishment.

Pujara had the trainer out again after getting hammered on the forearm by Hazlewood, but it looked as though he may have actually broken his finger when he copped another frightful blow to the glove which had him hopping around and waving his hand around in agony.

Laying on the floor clutching his fingers, there were doubts over whether Pujara could continue – but like The Black Knight from the Monty Python sketch who has all his limbs sliced off in battle; the batting warrior just refused to yield.

At that point, Pujara was just 26 off 125, but still going nowhere.

And at the end … he departed after an extraordinary innings. Picture: AFP

Pujara stopped Hazlewood mid run-up as a moth flew into his eye-line. But he regretted it next ball, as Hazlewood took out his anger with a nasty bouncer that followed him like a tracer-bullet and smashed into the grill of his helmet – the force knocking the neck guard to fall off.

“Did you see that one,” Hazlewood snarled, Australia frustrated at ‘The Wall’ that refused to break.

In the end Cummins landed the final blow, thudding into Pujara’s pad and claiming him lbw by the barest of margins.

Australia felt they had got Pujara’s measure this series, after he had tormented them two summers ago.

But on the final day of the series, Pujara produced the one innings that mattered most.